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I have a ghost cam in a 5.3. Actually bought the cam from MAVN. If you don't purposely tweak the timing correction numbers, it does not lope. Drives good. Gets good fuel mileage. Has plenty of low speed tq. I actually pulled out the 228/232 BTR cam I had in it and at was just as strong except drivability is better with the ghost cam and better low speed tq.
So, from experience, my pick would be the ghost cam. It was in my 5.7 too, pulled to 7000 in that and pulls to 7000 in my 5.3.
Yeah I like the TSP and when I spoke with them, they specifically recommended the 220R. That said, they claim it “only” adds about 30-35 hp. I feel like if I’m going through the trouble of disassembling the engine and adding a cam, that I should be getting something that adds a bit more power than that. For reference, the 224R adds 45-50 hp (not sure what the Ghost Cam adds).
Ugh, why is this so difficult!
It's interesting, everyone will tell you that it shouldn't be, but my TSP 216/220 made more than my larger CamMotion 218/226. Exactly the same setup, except the 216/220 is using dual valve springs, the 218/226 PAC single springs.
Let me tell you, this wasn't just dyno figures you won't notice in real life. You really could feel this difference between the two cams exactly as the dyno shows it.
Note: Don't get too caught up on the numbers, Aussie dyno don't read as high as US Dynos and this was a stingy AWD dyno.
Here is a sound clip of a 224/228 112 Comp XE grind I had in my 4th gen. If you want a smoother idle then you would want the 114 LSA. Either way it drove great and made good power. The overall setup is what makes the power, the cam simply moves the power curve around. This cam made power from 2-6800rpm and I shifted it at 7k. 122-123 mph car in the 1/4mi.
definitely go with the ghost cam. Light car and 3.73 gears will be fine on the low end. Ghost cam basically keeps stock low end because the intake lobe is pretty wide/aggressive. Not overly to the point of failures though, as many run it with no trouble. What heads will you be running? Ghost cam is good everywhere but especially from 4k to 6500k, so you will likely hit 400hp with stock heads and an ls6 intake. Probably 420 with stock 243s. The lsa is wide so peak torque wont be insane but figure on 360 with stock heads or 380+ with 243s.
Here's a graph got from mavns thread when his fbody had stock heads and a fast 102. When he added TEA heads and better exhaust, he was at like 460hp and ran low 11s in the 1/4.
I have a feeling @Summitracing will also recommend this cam. If you had a heavier car and 3.42 or less gears, I might recommend their stage 2 high lift truck cam. 218/227, .600, .600, 112+2. Same specs as ws6store's HL hot cam but with more aggressive lobes and more power.
This is my own selfish tangent. I wish summit racing had something between the ghost cam and their 8707 (226/238, .600, .600, 113+3). I would absolutely buy their their 3 truck cam if it had more lift. Something like 222/230, .600, .600, 112+4 would be amazing. Or 224/232, .600, .600, 113+4.
Alright, you may have just convinced me to go Ghost Cam - that seems to be the consensus here. To answer your question, I’ll be using stock heads, stock intake (78mm), and long tube headers. I was considering upgrading the throttle body to something bigger, but that’ll probably be a next year upgrade.
Here is a sound clip of a 224/228 112 Comp XE grind I had in my 4th gen. If you want a smoother idle then you would want the 114 LSA. Either way it drove great and made good power. The overall setup is what makes the power, the cam simply moves the power curve around. This cam made power from 2-6800rpm and I shifted it at 7k. 122-123 mph car in the 1/4mi.
You've received some great advice from the community on this. Cam recommendation posts always bring out plenty of suggestions. We like the range of cams you're considering for your combo and goals. Thanks to @Abs for tagging us in the thread.
This combo and goals would be a great fit for our SUM-8715R1 "Ghost cam". Specs on it are .600/.575, 222/234, 115+3 with -2* of overlap. The name came about from the thread Abs pulled the screenshot from. While speaking with @Mavn about his feedback on the 8715R1 he helped us coin it the "Ghost" cam. It'll have a smooth and stealthy idle or you can get it to lope some depending on idle speed. The 8715R1 is easy to tune and will have excellent street manners. It'll have a nice wide powerband. You might lose some low-end but you have a light car, not a heavy truck so it'll get up and get moving. Being a lighter car with a T-56 and 3.73 gears this will be a joy to drive!
Pair it with our .600" lift beehives or the upgraded TFS-2500286P .660" lift duals. We do recommend a minimum of a .080" wall 5/16" Chromoly pushrod. You can typically get a set of 16 for around $100. A 7.400 or 7.425" should work but we always recommend measuring for pushrod length before purchasing pushrods.
With bolt-ons, you could potentially see a gain of around 35whp, a noticeable difference in performance.
Here's an example idle video of the Ghost cam in an LS1.
You've received some great advice from the community on this. Cam recommendation posts always bring out plenty of suggestions. We like the range of cams you're considering for your combo and goals. Thanks to @Abs for tagging us in the thread.
This combo and goals would be a great fit for our SUM-8715R1 "Ghost cam". Specs on it are .600/.575, 222/234, 115+3 with -2* of overlap. The name came about from the thread Abs pulled the screenshot from. While speaking with @Mavn about his feedback on the 8715R1 he helped us coin it the "Ghost" cam. It'll have a smooth and stealthy idle or you can get it to lope some depending on idle speed. The 8715R1 is easy to tune and will have excellent street manners. It'll have a nice wide powerband. You might lose some low-end but you have a light car, not a heavy truck so it'll get up and get moving. Being a lighter car with a T-56 and 3.73 gears this will be a joy to drive!
Pair it with our .600" lift beehives or the upgraded TFS-2500286P .660" lift duals. We do recommend a minimum of a .080" wall 5/16" Chromoly pushrod. You can typically get a set of 16 for around $100. A 7.400 or 7.425" should work but we always recommend measuring for pushrod length before purchasing pushrods.
With bolt-ons, you could potentially see a gain of around 35whp, a noticeable difference in performance.
This is fantastic information and that can sounds great!!
But this brings up a new question - what is the benefit of .660” lift duals vs .600”?
Funny you should ask. The answer was actually recently provided in the thread below. Ignore the negativity of the OP. It is constant and toxic, but Summit Racing eventually provides the solution.
It's interesting, everyone will tell you that it shouldn't be, but my TSP 216/220 made more than my larger CamMotion 218/226. Exactly the same setup, except the 216/220 is using dual valve springs, the 218/226 PAC single springs.
Let me tell you, this wasn't just dyno figures you won't notice in real life. You really could feel this difference between the two cams exactly as the dyno shows it.
Note: Don't get too caught up on the numbers, Aussie dyno don't read as high as US Dynos and this was a stingy AWD dyno.
This is fantastic information and that can sounds great!!
But this brings up a new question - what is the benefit of .660” lift duals vs .600”?
That's a good question to ask. The SUM-8715R1 has very smooth lobes that make it easy on the valvetrain. We're confident in our .600" lift beehives to help keep the valvetrain stable. The TFS-2500286P duals are offered for those old-school guys who prefer duals and don't mind spending the extra $50.00+.
@Kfxguy, that video is PERFECT! It helps folks understand that you can make just about any cam lope/chop all in the tune
Boy, that sure shows what a stealth cam the Ghost cam is!
Even when you made it lope the most, it's still pretty tame for as big a cam that it is. Though, the wide 115LSA helps a BUNCH there.
I bet Summit caught themselves by surprise with this one!
Yup, definitely smooth and we see where timing control makes that difference. That 115 LSA helps greatly, get down to the 112 range it has a lope. I have Summit's version of the Hotcam in my Truck and it has a lope to it. Less lift and Duration, it's that 112 LSA.
Yup, definitely smooth and we see where timing control makes that difference. That 115 LSA helps greatly, get down to the 112 range it has a lope. I have Summit's version of the Hotcam in my Truck and it has a lope to it. Less lift and Duration, it's that 112 LSA.
I imagine Summit's Hot Cam benefits from more modern lobe design. GM's version is a dinosaur comparatively.
But yeah that narrower 112 LSA will bring on the lope a bit. I bet it has a bit more bottom end than the Ghost cam, though, because of that
3/4 Ton truck with a toolbox full of tools takes some effort to move, with the stock Convertor in the 4L80E. Not the best first gear to have quick acceleration off the line but it does make some nice power 2600-up when the PE starts ramping in. Under that I've had no knock and timing isn't up too high, doesn't stay in them low RPM's very long anyway.